Stone Brewing Unleashes Crime and Punishment

What do you get when you take Stone’s Bastard brothers,
combine them with 15 kinds of chile peppers, and age them in Kentucky oak
Bourbon barrels?Pain—and plenty of it. Starting today, Stone Brewing is dishing out
the heat with the release of Crime and Punishment. You can read all the details in Stone’s release notes at the
end of this post, but here are a few notable tidbits:

Both Crime and his wicked half-brother
Punishment are said to be ultra-hot (and that’s understated). Those who dare to
try them are advised to approach with extreme caution. Cellar aging will allow
the heat to subside and the bourbon to develop and become more prominent.

This is Stone’s first national release of their
Quingenti Millilitre Series. This translates to 500 milliliters in Italian,
which is a nod to the size of the bottles used in the series.

Stone has expanded its barrel-aging program and
now has over 1300 spirit and wine barrels. They even opened up a new facility
to age and bottle these beers. As a result, we can expect to see more Quingenti
Millilitre releases in the future.

While I love spicy food, I have no desire to induce
self-inflicted pain. Call me unworthy, if you like. My sample bottle of Crime is
headed for a slumber in the dark recesses of my crawlspace. I expect it’ll be
my cup of tea in a year or so.

So, the question is…Are YOU ready to feel the burn? If so, let Stone’s Crime & Punishment
give you the beat down you deserve.

Leave it to Stone Brewing Co. to bring the heat with the
releases of Crime and Punishment, two barrel-aged beers loaded with 15 kinds of
chile peppers. Crime is Lukcy Basartd Ale with peppers added and then aged in
American oak Kentucky bourbon barrels, while Punishment is Double Bastard Ale
with added peppers aged in American oak Kentucky bourbon barrels.

Those willing to try Crime should expect a beer that’s
ultra-hot (that’s actually an understatement), with fruity flavors and notes of
green jalapeño. Flavors of caramel and oak borne from the aging come through
mid-palate, followed by a pervasive, long-lingering, fiery hop laced
aftertaste.Punishment is brutal. It
also leads with ultra-hot and fruity chile flavors along with subtler green
pepper notes. Intense caramel, butterscotch and bourbon flavors make a strong
appearance mid-palate, and the beer finishes with a long-lasting, fiery after
burn. Both beers are incredibly hot and overwhelmingly powerful. Be warned, although
these beers sound similar, they are very different. Any that dare to try them
should approach with extreme caution – don’t say we didn’t warn you!

The peppers used to create this searing duo were sourced
from Stone’s own farmstead as well as a few local suppliers. The list of
scorching edibles includes: red and green jalapeño, Fatali, Caribbean Red Hot,
habanero, Ghost, Black Naga, Super, Moruga Scorpion, 7 Pot, Aji Amarillo,
Scorpion, Giant White Habanero, 7 Pot Douglah and Douglah.

Both beers are ready to enjoy now, or may be properly
cellared for months or years. If cellared, the spicy and hoppy notes of Crime
will slightly subside, while the sweet flavors of bourbon will deepen. The oak
that is more prominent in Punishment, as well as the peppers, will begin to
diminish (and perhaps become more palatable) as the bourbon becomes more
noticeable.

With a new facility dedicated to the aging and bottling of
these rarities, the beers may not actually be so rare in coming months. With
more than 1,300 barrels, ranging from bourbon to wine, brandy and Scotch
whisky, the company has plans to release future Quingenti Mililitre nationwide.

“Expanding our barrel-aging program to include national
distribution is something we’ve been working towards for many years,” said
Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele. “Now that we have the ability to produce more of
the Quingenti Mililitre series due to our new aging and bottling facility, our
fans should expect to see many new aged flavor combinations as well as some
re-brews of favorites we’ve released in the past.”

“Barrel aging opens up a whole new spectrum of possible
flavor combinations when it comes to beers,” said Stone Research and Small
Batch Manager Steve Gonzalez. “You get some flavor from what was in the barrel
before, whether wine or spirits, and then you get the wood flavors as well.
Experimenting with various flavor combinations from the beers and the barrels
is really intriguing, and I’m excited to share what we’ve been working on for months
with our fans.”